Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Wyatt Allen
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000478A
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00:01 The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:7
00:03 that God had given to him, 00:05 and he called himself the least of all the saints. 00:11 He said a grace was given to him 00:13 that he could preach among others 00:17 the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. 00:20 We want to show you how you too can do that, 00:22 please join us today on Issues and Answers. 00:56 Hello, and thank you again for joining us 00:58 on Issues and Answers. 01:00 We are just so glad to have this time to sit down 01:02 and spend together with you 01:05 and today we're gonna be talking about, 01:07 how we as God's people, can reach out to touch, 01:13 we who are the least can reach out to touch 01:15 the least of the least if you will 01:17 and share the unsearchable riches of God's grace 01:21 and His plan for us and joining us again today, 01:24 he was here last week, is our special guest, 01:27 his name is Wyatt Allen. 01:30 And, Wyatt, you are an evangelist 01:33 for Amazing Facts. 01:34 You are the director, a founder of 'In Time Hope Ministries.' 01:40 You are an author of an incredible book called, 01:44 "The Least of the Least, From Crime to Christ." 01:47 Let me see... Wyatt, first welcome. 01:49 Thanks. Thank you for being here. 01:51 Let me see if I can recap your story very briefly 01:54 'cause we talked about... 01:56 Shared a lot of your testimony last time. 01:58 At the age of 15, you are having... 02:04 Had a life of violence modeled to you. 02:08 You became a violent child, involved in drugs. 02:11 You were in a drug rehab, 02:14 attacked one of the counselors there, 02:17 they then put you in, 02:19 I mean, they held you for year till you were 16 02:22 so they could try you as an adult. 02:24 You were sentenced to 20 years in prison, 02:27 of which he served 14. 02:29 But during those 14 years, 02:32 he didn't let any grass grow under his feet. 02:34 First, God got his attention 02:36 and he was actually a Christian, 02:38 became a Christian 02:39 while he was in county jail for a year, 02:42 he studied and when he went off to prison, 02:45 God just put this incredible 02:48 protective barrier around him it seems. 02:50 But you really did a lot of studying 02:53 not only in the Bible 02:55 but you, you made the most of your time, 02:58 you invested your time wisely while you were there. 03:01 When you got out, you married a beautiful woman, 03:03 you have a little daughter nearly two 03:06 and another child on the way 03:08 and you are going from coast to coast 03:11 doing evangelistic series. 03:13 You know, we know it was God's will 03:14 that you are here today 03:16 because in your very busy schedule, 03:18 we had this one little slot we wanted to fill 03:21 and this was the only time that you even... 03:23 Worked out perfect. Had available. 03:25 So we wanna talk today 03:29 a little about prison ministries 03:32 and particularly, what's close to your heart 03:35 and that is working with youth who are in detention centers. 03:40 Where do people begin and can we talk about... 03:44 Can you give us some guidelines because you're looking at it 03:47 from a perspective, 03:48 you know the value of prison ministry. 03:50 But you have a different perspective 03:52 'cause you've been there. 03:53 So maybe, you can give us some guidelines 03:55 as what is effective, 03:57 what you should be aware of, just roll. 04:00 That's a whole lot of stuff there 04:02 but, you know, I'm not some super Christian 04:05 that somehow emerged from the prison system 04:08 just as, you know, ready for society 04:11 and everything was just great 04:12 because I'm just some great guy. 04:14 You know, prison ministries has played a vital role 04:17 and from the time I first got incarcerated 04:19 until the last day 04:21 and actually after I got out and so I wanna give credit 04:25 where credit is due and that as to God's laborers 04:28 who're willing to work among, what I call, 04:30 the least of the least as we talked about last week. 04:32 But, you know, there is just, 04:36 I think a dearth among Christian ministries 04:40 that focuses on those that are incarcerated 04:43 whether it is juveniles or adults 04:45 and so that's... 04:47 A lot of my burden is that. 04:49 Now there are many I'm sure, many viewers 04:53 that really are, that is their passion, 04:56 that is what they and they're just trying 04:57 to let the spirit of enthusiasm 05:01 just catch with their church but it's just hard. 05:03 One brother who's involved in prison ministries 05:05 for probably most of his life, 05:07 he shared with me that every time 05:09 it comes to helping out somebody who is in prison, 05:12 he's the one that's beaten the drum, 05:15 he's the one that's really doing 05:16 the utmost to get it to happen 05:18 because everybody else just drags their feet. 05:20 It's just not a very popular ministry 05:23 and I think frankly the reason is, 05:24 is because when you try hard, there are some that get out 05:29 and they go back to their crimes, 05:31 they go back to drugs, dysfunctional lives 05:33 and it can get very discouraging. 05:35 But I now wanna say something and I know my husband 05:37 wouldn't mind me saying this 05:39 'cause he's actually said it before. 05:41 We did some prison ministry in Indiana 05:44 and he said that, you know, there wasn't anything 05:48 that was even on his radar, 05:50 he wasn't all that excited about doing it 05:52 until he tasted and saw, I mean, once he got there 05:56 and we were at a maximum security prison for men 05:59 and, you know, his heart went out 06:03 to these men and they could... 06:05 They knew the sincerity, 06:07 they knew he was an authentic person 06:10 and you could see some men that looked very hardened, 06:14 very, almost some of them looked a little scary 06:17 but, and forgive me for saying it that way 06:20 but that's just my perspective that... 06:22 I've been there, they can look very scary. 06:23 So... 06:25 But these men were melting because they saw before them 06:29 a father's heart, maybe, a father or a grand father 06:32 that they never had and so we found that these men, 06:37 these women, were very much... 06:43 They're just like us and most of them in there, 06:46 no matter how tough they act are scared to be 06:49 where they are 06:51 and it was something that we found that, 06:53 we went there to be a blessing and we came back 06:55 with ten times the blessing that we received, 06:59 it was incredible. 07:01 Well, that's testimony right there, 07:02 that people who don't think 07:04 that prison ministry is for them, 07:05 that they just taste and see 07:08 and you might find that that is a, 07:09 now I will not say blankly that prison ministry 07:10 is for everybody, there are... 07:12 But I will say there is a ministry 07:14 that anybody could really do for those inside. 07:17 So going in and visiting inmates 07:19 or having services for them 07:21 may not be the aspect of prison ministries 07:24 that you can be involved with 07:25 but, you know, if you're scared of the big guys, 07:28 you know, bubbles in prison or whatever, 07:30 you know, the juvenile detention centers 07:32 I think are even less than prison ministries 07:35 aren't really being focused on. 07:37 It is sometimes harder to get into a juvenile center 07:39 because of privacy issues or other concerns 07:43 but even with through literature work, 07:45 sending materials in, writing letters, 07:48 you know, there's a lot of young people 07:49 that are very wavered that need that fatherly 07:52 and sometimes motherly... 07:54 Love and they just don't, they haven't experienced that, 07:56 they haven't seen it and for me, 07:58 when I got locked up, I could honestly say, 08:00 I had never met a Christian that I knew, 08:03 I mean, that I could say, 08:04 that was what a Christian look like. 08:05 Looking back, I can't say that. 08:07 You knew some people who went to church 08:08 but you didn't know anybody that really had 08:10 a personal relationship with the Lord. 08:12 When I went to a Bible study at this one church, 08:14 on a Wednesday night, 08:16 you know, I didn't really like it too much 08:17 but it was just an evening. 08:19 Well, a year later, I'm smoking drugs 08:21 with these same people 08:22 that are continually going to church. 08:24 I didn't think Christians were a lot different than me 08:26 and so to find somebody that had the love of Christ, 08:29 who reflected Jesus, I haven't seen. 08:30 But I'm not saying that they're not out there, 08:32 I just think we have responsibilities at church 08:35 to put ourselves as much as we can in front of people 08:38 so that they can see the love of Jesus. 08:41 Okay, so let's say that there is someone 08:43 who maybe, they're sitting at home, 08:44 they may be my age and thinking that, 08:47 "Well, ministry, you know, 08:48 my best years for ministry has passed." 08:50 But they may be able to write a personal letter. 08:54 What kinds of things... 08:56 How would you guide somebody even if writing... 09:01 What would you present in these letters? 09:06 Where would you draw the line? 09:08 Give us a little guidelines on that. 09:10 Well, there is so much abuse out there of the system that, 09:14 you know, there's people that are just con artists inside 09:16 and I would say that's the minority 09:19 but you just having a wisdom about it, 09:22 you can avoid so many problems 09:25 but the pen pal ministry is huge. 09:28 I can say in my experience while I was locked up, 09:30 if you can find a right person to write to and... 09:34 You can really minister to somebody's life. 09:36 I'm still in touch today with people that, 09:39 they wrote to me in some dark moments of my past, 09:42 that encouraged me and gave me hope 09:45 and, you know, and so I just, 09:48 I really look back and appreciate, 09:51 I still have those letters 09:52 and it's not like they had to go 09:55 and share every personal thing of their life 09:56 and expose themselves the things 09:58 that may make them vulnerable, 10:00 you can share the love of Christ, 10:02 you know, think about the letters 10:03 of the apostle Paul, 10:05 you know, like Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 10:09 all these things were written while he was in prison, 10:12 you know, you can write letters. 10:15 We have prison ministry in the reverse, isn't it? 10:16 Yeah, it is. 10:18 But I'm just saying, you know, you can write letters without, 10:21 I mean, I'm talking about the inmates writing to people, 10:23 you can write letters 10:24 and you receive a blessing as well. 10:26 Yes. 10:27 And I just...I know there's a lot of people inside 10:31 that for a lack of an encouraging word 10:34 from somebody who has an another inmate, 10:36 they're despondent... 10:39 But what are some of the guidelines 10:41 for what you should or should not, 10:43 I mean, you don't wanna be preachy or judgmental 10:46 but where do you draw line 10:48 as for as sharing personal details and things. 10:52 Again, I think it just, it takes, 10:53 I pray over every letter, ask out for wisdom 10:56 and I wouldn't share personal stuff. 10:58 Now, you know, a year or two goes by 11:00 and, you know, whatever of writing back and forth, 11:02 you might fill a comfort level there, 11:05 you know, always if you have questions, 11:07 have somebody who's, you know, 11:09 at the church, a leader at the church, 11:10 maybe, read through some letters 11:11 and kind of feel if there's a scam going on here 11:15 but for the most part, if you connect to somebody... 11:18 And listen, if you're a Christian, 11:20 there's a level of conversation that you can hold, 11:23 that if you're not a Christian it's just, 11:24 it's not that hard to detect. 11:27 And there's people inside that are genuinely wanting 11:31 to do better for themselves 11:32 and it's gonna come across so clear. 11:34 Guideline wise, 11:36 yeah, of course, avoid personal stuff, 11:38 personal information as much as possible. 11:40 Especially at first, but you can always share 11:44 the encouraging words from the Bible. 11:47 Scripture promises, 11:49 encourage them to ask questions... 11:52 Okay. But here's the thing. 11:54 Here's the reality, but I may not know 11:56 the specific statistic but like 95% of inmates 12:00 that are locked up are gonna get out of prison. 12:01 Others are lifers but most people 12:03 are going to get out one day 12:05 and they're gonna be your next door neighbor. 12:06 We want them to be as much converted as possible, 12:10 if they're going to be my next door neighbor 12:12 and so, you know, sharing personal things, 12:16 you know, is sometimes helpful but not too personal, 12:19 I think, again, I think there's just a level of wisdom 12:22 that would really help there. 12:23 Okay, so now let's talk about literature 12:25 because I know that especially you said that 12:29 when you were in prison and you got to be a clerk 12:32 for the prison's chaplain 12:34 and for the library that was very special, 12:36 it surprised me when you told me 12:38 you'd read one of my books while you were in the prison. 12:40 Yeah, two of them, I believe. 12:41 Actually wonderful, but that's a precious thing, 12:44 so somebody had to get those books in there. 12:47 Talk about literature. Right. 12:49 And this is for those who maybe 12:51 aren't comfortable writing letters 12:52 or actually going into prisons, 12:53 you could send materials into chapels, 12:56 typically, completely for free 12:58 and they'll actually put them on chapel library shelf. 13:00 If you have a lots of them, they'd put them out on a table 13:02 or they can take them back to their cells. 13:04 You can mail stuff specifically to inmates themselves. 13:09 Different prisons have different regulations about it 13:12 but just give the prisoner a call 13:13 and say, "What's your regulations?" 13:15 And follow those 13:16 and you can get the materials inside. 13:17 I will say that our prison chapel, 13:19 our chaplain was a very open 13:21 to the Seventh-day Adventist church 13:22 because they saw that what the Adventist church 13:24 was doing in prisons was very positive 13:27 and so they were putting tons of our books 13:29 on the shelves and that was simply 13:31 because people had the burden to get those books into prison, 13:34 so they'll send boxes of books 13:36 that will be now available to inmates. 13:40 So definitely literature but you know what 13:42 is even I think more personal than literature 13:46 is Bible Correspondence schools. 13:48 And our church has tons of them through Amazing Facts, 13:51 it is written, Voice of Prophecy, 13:54 so many more and I've done probably 13:57 20 or 30 different courses, some of them several times. 14:01 My certificate file is very thick 14:03 with all the ones I've graduated from 14:05 and, you know, 14:07 but doing it on a personal level, 14:10 sending them in and getting the answers, 14:11 grading them yourselves 14:12 and sending them in, what a way... 14:14 You can answer those letters personally, 14:15 answer Bible questions, a very powerful ministry. 14:18 That's very, very good. 14:20 And you could be in Nevada 14:22 answering letters for a guy in Michigan, 14:24 you know, it's not, you don't have 14:25 to be there at that prison 14:26 to do a Bible school with somebody 14:30 but there's a lots of prison ministries out there. 14:32 Some of them send Bibles into prisons that, 14:35 you know, they just, as they get donations, 14:37 they send more Bibles in to inmates 14:39 who graduate from Bible schools or just who need Bibles. 14:42 That's one thing that 3ABN does. 14:43 It's part of our prison ministries 14:45 that we give the Andrew Study Bible 14:47 to the prisoners who we're corresponding with. 14:50 So there's, you can become a pen pal, 14:56 you can do literature support, what about Christian music? 15:01 Do they allow Christian CDs in or not? 15:06 Yeah, most prisons I think allow CD. 15:07 You can buy CD players off the commissary 15:09 or the canteen accounts 15:11 and but in the prison I am from, 15:14 that's what I am familiar with, in Missouri, 15:16 you actually had to send like either a donation 15:19 and sort of, have like a buying process 15:22 and they got to prove to vendors 15:24 and so somehow it's more difficult to get CDs in 15:26 but, you know, the chapels usually have a stock of CDs 15:30 and so they can again go to the chapel 15:32 and check these things out. 15:35 But there's and not just music CDs 15:37 but also preaching CDs, I listened to an entire... 15:40 That's how I got introduced with Pastor David Asher, 15:42 I watched his entire discovery series 15:44 while I was through, 15:47 somebody sent in a whole DVD set 15:49 and so I watched the whole series. 15:51 Praise the lord, praise the lord. 15:52 Now the thing you can do, of course, 15:54 is support 3ABN 15:55 because we're in so many prison systems. 15:58 Actually, we just... 16:00 I don't know if you saw the Adventist review 16:02 wrote an article but we are on 16:04 and available like Guantanamo Bay. 16:07 I saw that... I saw that picture. I did. 16:08 Yeah, that was really exciting to think about that. 16:11 Now if you have an opportunity 16:18 to participate in prison ministries, 16:22 say, to actually go and visit, 16:24 give us some guidelines of what you think 16:29 makes a good prison ministry program. 16:32 Well, there's a couple of levels even of that 16:34 because you have the personal prison ministry. 16:36 We wanted to get a church service started 16:38 for the Adventist church when we were locked up, 16:41 there's several of us that were involved 16:42 and but, well, it started out with actually one brother, 16:45 John Stone, he was able to come in 16:47 to hold a visit with three of us 16:50 in the visiting room, so it wasn't even in the chapel 16:53 or anything of the prison, he got a permission to... 16:55 And there's a approval process, you actually have to go through 16:58 an application process to become a spiritual advisor 17:01 and so we had Bible study, 17:03 a communion right there in the visiting room 17:07 and it was very loud 17:08 but we had Bible study right there 17:10 and very encouraging but because the interest 17:12 was growing among those on the yard, 17:15 that's why inmates are vital 17:17 to doing prison ministry because you have to... 17:20 They are the ones that have to go out and witness 17:22 and say, "Hey, come out through our services." 17:25 We were actually finally able to hold services in the prison 17:28 and we had several volunteers start to come in, 17:31 so there's the process of the prisoner, 17:33 the volunteers have to go through with the prison 17:36 but even above that, there's a qualification. 17:38 You have to have a sense 17:41 that you're not a better than them. 17:42 And I'll tell you what, almost every prison ministry 17:45 maybe says, a prison minister, man or woman 17:48 that I have met has a sense of, you know what? 17:51 You know, but for the grace of God, there goes I. 17:53 I deserve to be here in as much as you, 17:54 I just didn't get caught. 17:55 I've heard that dozens of times and it's so true, 17:57 when you have that attitude, it's like, okay, 17:59 now I can talk to you, you're not better than me, 18:01 you're not coming down to preach down to me. 18:03 So that attitude is huge, I think for somebody 18:06 who's gonna be working among prisoners. 18:09 But definitely, you know, whether you have a... 18:12 Just all you can do is sing, 18:14 maybe you don't know your Bible that well 18:15 but you can sing, that's a huge ministry. 18:18 You can play the piano for the service 18:20 or, you know, if you're not a good preacher, 18:24 sit down and have a Bible study, 18:25 go through for the Sabbath school lesson 18:26 once a week with these guys. 18:28 Have a prayer ministry, a one on one counseling, 18:31 there's just endless, the opportunities 18:34 and things that people can do to minister to people inside. 18:36 And, you know, our church has a group 18:38 that goes out to the local jails, 18:41 now that's... I think that's more challenging 18:43 than prison ministry because it's a revolving door, 18:46 they're just, it's a holding, almost like a holding cell, 18:49 they're in, they're out... 18:50 But you know what though? 18:52 It's the more promising one because a lot of people 18:53 who're in jail, that's almost the first step 18:56 before the prison system. 18:57 And you know what that means? 18:59 That means that if you can get them there 19:01 and help them to see their need for Christ 19:03 and depend on Him and get a love 19:05 for His Word then, you know what? 19:07 They're not gonna end up in prison 19:09 'cause they're gonna have that 19:10 personal reaffirmation right there. 19:12 So jail ministry is huge. 19:14 That's why my emphasis on juvenile ministries 19:17 is even more because if you can get 19:19 a 13, 14, 15-year-old 19:22 to fall in love with Jesus, 19:23 get involved in ministry then you know what? 19:26 You could just save a whole career criminal 19:28 from a life of mistakes. 19:30 So what are some of the things 19:33 that you should try to educate yourself on... 19:37 What topics for example? 19:39 I'm thinking of drug addiction, if it would be helpful 19:42 if you knew a little something about the mind of a drug addict 19:46 or the problems that they're are facing. 19:49 What are some things if... let's say that you do want 19:51 to start a prison ministry or a jail ministry, 19:56 what kinds of things, is it good to go in there armed 19:59 and equipped to talk about abuse, addiction? 20:03 Well, I mean, I think people relate 20:06 more to personal experiences 20:07 so you don't have to have some degree 20:10 or some certification and something that just say, 20:11 "Hey, I'm there for you. I wanna hear you. 20:14 I wanna share with you. I love you." 20:16 I think it doesn't take any qualifications to do that. 20:18 Okay. Good. 20:19 Now if you have them, what an extra blessing. 20:22 You can, you know, you could hold classes 20:24 and not to mean spiritual classes, 20:26 a friend of mine, his wife goes into a women's prison 20:29 and she does financial classes. 20:31 And, of course, she drops, you know, 20:33 the spiritual message to the whole thing 20:35 but it's not specifically a spiritual class 20:39 but it is still a ministry 20:41 and it's a door, a way to get in 20:42 and they don't have an Adventist service 20:44 in that prison but it's a way to get those 20:46 and she get a lots of people to sign up 20:47 for the Bible schools 20:49 but she's a minister in that prison. 20:51 What is the literacy rate in prison? 20:55 Do you find many people who are illiterate? 20:57 Very, I mean, if you don't have a job 20:59 you gotta be going to school and the schools, 21:02 I mean, are packed, I mean, you have, 21:05 you know, when I was in, 21:06 you had three different sessions 21:08 of the school that you had to just, 21:11 it was just so many people that, 21:13 and that's not to say they're all are illiterate, 21:14 just some of them don't have their GED. 21:16 Believe me, I have met some of the most genius people 21:18 in the world locked up. 21:20 And I'm speaking specifically to reading skills 21:23 'cause I heard, I read something somewhere 21:25 where it was talking about how many illiterate people 21:28 there are in the United States. 21:29 It's true. It shocked me. 21:31 You know, we just don't think that, 21:33 we assume that people are coming up 21:35 through the school system 21:36 and that they're learning to read. 21:38 Now some people maybe, have dyslexia, 21:41 some people may just have been promoted from grade to grade 21:47 but it's shocking to me that there are people 21:50 who are maybe 16, 17 or beyond 21:53 and they can read at maybe a second grade level. 21:55 Yeah. That's true. 21:57 And it is a lot in prison but I think 21:59 that's not to be discouraged, I mean, if you can't read, 22:01 you can always listen and... 22:02 No, my point was would it be good to like maybe do... 22:05 I'm trying to think of classes. Oh, I see what you're saying. 22:08 Yeah, going in, do a reading class or something. 22:10 I haven't seen anything like that in the past, 22:13 I'm sure they're out there and I know... 22:19 Being creative like that actually in just having, 22:21 finding a need, 22:23 filling that need is a way to get in there, 22:24 you're getting around these folks 22:26 and you're able to help, 22:27 you're able to minister to them. 22:29 I think it doesn't take anybody special, 22:33 I mean, everybody's special 22:35 but, I mean, you don't have to have 22:36 some special skill, you could come in... 22:37 Or a degree. 22:39 You know, and I always encourage 22:40 prison ministry teams. 22:42 I think, you know, one volunteer is great 22:44 if you're really good at it 22:45 but coming in as a team, two or three or four people, 22:49 one maybe, possibly be the teacher, 22:50 the other people are just sometimes there 22:52 to sit there, smile and just show 22:54 that they love these people, that says so much. 22:58 But, yeah, you can start all kinds of classes 23:01 in the jails, in the prisons. 23:04 There's just no limit really, 23:06 but you have to be willing to do it and that's... 23:08 I think people are intimidated by the idea, 23:10 but they shouldn't be, 23:11 it's because the ministry's like that 23:13 and I can tell lots of a personal experiences 23:15 that I am here today where I'm at. 23:18 People invested their time in me, 23:20 they came from the outside, they loved me for who I was 23:23 and who I could be and so I know that 23:26 there's people out there that could be exactly the same. 23:29 And God honored. 23:30 Obviously, He honored 23:31 their investment of time in you. 23:34 You know what I like to say? 23:35 I say, you know, most criminals 23:38 can trace their first murderous act to that of killing time 23:41 and I believe that if you can take... 23:45 Oh, repeat that because that went by too fast 23:47 for somebody at home's going, "What did he just say?" 23:50 Something like, you know, criminals 23:52 can trace their first murderous act 23:54 to that of killing time. 23:57 Basically, wasting the good time 23:58 that God has given us. 24:00 Time is such a gift and if you look at the time, 24:02 you'll incarcerate it as a gift to be used 24:05 to be better trained for the ministry, 24:07 to be better trained to be useful in God's service, 24:10 then there's no limit to what God can do with you. 24:13 But if you take that time and you waste it, 24:16 you know, it's... 24:17 You're gonna get out either a worst person 24:20 or just the same as you did when you got locked up. 24:22 Take that time and prove it 24:24 and now what prison ministry's can come in 24:25 is giving the inmates something to do in that time, 24:29 that's the Bible school, that's the classes, 24:31 that's the pen pals, that's the... 24:35 And I have one friend, 24:36 he runs a ministry called, Conviction Ministries. 24:38 He wants to actually develop a curriculum like AFCO 24:41 for those inside. 24:43 Praise the Lord. 24:44 Where he actually trains up workers, 24:46 so that when they get out, they'll not just try and look 24:48 for a job to get back in the field, 24:49 they're ready to go in ministry. 24:51 Yeah. 24:52 And I tell you that speaks hope and promise 24:54 and I believe there's people inside just like me, 24:56 just like him, just like many others 24:58 that are willing to do 25:00 what it takes to serve God in any capacity. 25:03 You know, it's interesting. 25:04 We just came full circle, 25:06 we're talking about how to minister to prisoners 25:09 and now we're talking about prisoners 25:11 being the missionaries within the system. 25:15 We actually have a friend whose child, 25:20 through a number of circumstances committed 25:22 a heinous act, an act of murder 25:25 and this is a strong Christian couple 25:27 and they were quite taken aback. 25:29 You can always tell if someone's faith is real 25:34 when they're in crisis and we saw this couple, 25:38 they didn't try to cover it up, 25:39 they admitted it freely, they mourned 25:42 but they had faith and it's interesting 25:45 because the way they look at it, 25:46 he's in for life, no possibility of parole 25:50 but the way they look at it and how they handle it 25:53 and cope with it is that they see their son 25:57 as a missionary because once he came... 26:00 Once he was in there, he really didn't, 26:03 after he was convicted, he gave his heart to the Lord. 26:08 And now they've been ministering to him in prison 26:11 and now he's ministering to so many others, 26:13 so that's how they deal with this as he's a missionary. 26:17 You know, there are so many that are really jaded, 26:20 they believe that, you know, this is all jail house religion 26:23 and there are, there's much jail house religion going on 26:26 where people they have a conversion 26:28 and hope of getting some kind of reward 26:31 or maybe not being picked on by other inmates 26:33 or whatever the reason is 26:34 but there are genuine conversions of people 26:36 who were incarcerated and we cannot just say, 26:39 "Well, they're in prison. 26:41 They became converted for whatever reason." 26:43 Believe them, give them hope, give them encouragement 26:46 and I hope people never give up on those. 26:49 People with life sentences, they need the most hope. 26:52 Amen. 26:54 And, you know, they can be set free. 26:56 We've made a number of lifers... 26:59 Just in a short time and there's... 27:01 Even though I'm behind bars, 27:03 you know, whom Christ has set free is free indeed, 27:06 so they have been set free and sometimes they're more free 27:09 than people on the outside. 27:11 That's right. Right. 27:12 So it's all a matter of relationship with the Lord. 27:17 Our time is just almost gone. 27:20 I want to mention your book one more time. 27:24 Wyatt didn't know I was even, I had to tell him to go out 27:27 to his car and bring in a book because he didn't know 27:29 we were gonna talk about this book. 27:31 I read his book, 27:32 I think this is a wonderful read for all of us. 27:35 It's a good study, it's a good way, 27:37 it's great evangelistic tool because it introduces 27:40 all of our doctrines but in a story form 27:44 as you were discovering these, 27:46 how God summon at these in his heart. 27:48 It's called "The Least of the Least" 27:50 and it's by Remnant Publications, 27:53 so I'm sure you can go to... 27:55 Is this on Amazon as well? 27:57 It's on Amazon, Remnant Publications 27:58 is a good place to go and get it. 27:59 Yes, wonderful. 28:01 Well, we're so grateful that, 28:02 Wyatt, you have joined us again today 28:04 and we want you to come back next week. 28:06 I just want to end with this. 28:08 Paul says he's talking about becoming a minister 28:11 by the gift of grace that God gave him. 28:14 He said," To me, who am the least 28:17 of the least of all the saints, this grace was given 28:20 that I should preach among prisoners 28:23 the unsearchable riches of Christ." 28:26 Let that be your testimony too. |
Revised 2017-01-12